RWE and ACC will jointly develop new offshore wind projects in Taiwan

RWE and Asian Cement Corporation (ACC), a Taiwanese cement company, have expanded their existing strategic partnership to jointly develop new offshore wind projects off the west coast of Taiwan, in the county waters of Hsinchu, Taichung and Changhua. Some of the sites are in water depths suitable for floating offshore wind. RWE, which opened its office in Taiwan in 2018, and ACC are already collaborating in the development of the 448 MW Chu Feng offshore wind project.

Taiwan is planning annual auctions over the next three years, each for 3 GW of capacity, in the first stage of its Phase 3 offshore wind plan. Under the proposed auction rules, there will be a cap of 500 MW per project, and also a cap of one project per developer per auction, leading to a maximum of 1.8 GW that could theoretically be secured by any one developer in these three auctions. The first binding round for 3 GW of offshore wind projects with commercial operation dates in 2026-2027 should be launched in the second or third quarter of 2022. A second round for another 3 GW to be commissioned in 2028-2029 is expected in the second quarter of 2023 and the third round for 3 GW to be commissioned in 2030-2031 is expected in the second quarter of 2024. The dates for the offshore projects to be commissioned between 2032 and 2035 will be announced later.